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  • OUTLOOK

The pursuit of dialysis equity

When a transplant is out of reach, kidney failure leaves those without access to high-quality health care with few options.
  1. Lauren Gravitz

    1. Lauren Gravitz is a science journalist based in San Diego, California.

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Baby sits in a domestic setting.

Baby was unable to afford the cost of the kidney dialysis she needed. Credit: George Inst. Global Health, India

Baby was a 38-year-old mother of four with end-stage kidney disease. She was vomiting, tired and needed dialysis three times a week. But in her town in northern India, the cost of therapy was prohibitive. Her daughters left school to save money, but still the family fell behind in their household expenses. All Baby could afford was one dialysis treatment each week. Eventually, even that became too costly. She stopped going for treatment, and died shortly after.

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Nature 615, S6-S7 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00650-9

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Chronic kidney disease, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

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